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Stephen Harper to highlight growth and climate at G8, G20 summits

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will test drive his priorities for the G8 and G20 summits this week at an elite conference in Davos, Switzerland, and he's expected to highlight the environment, development and global economic growth.

OTTAWA–Prime Minister Stephen Harper will test drive his priorities for the G8 and G20 summits this week at an elite conference in Davos, Switzerland, and he's expected to highlight the environment, development and global economic growth.

While Canada's official agenda for the end-of-June summits is not yet finalized, climate change will figure prominently at both meetings, a senior government official said.

Economic recovery, banking regulations, aid for mothers and children in poor countries and global security are also top of mind for the prime minister as he leaves Tuesday night for a quick three-day trip.

His speech on Thursday will be the first public unveiling of how Harper sees the two summits unfolding – starting with the Group of Eight industrialized countries meeting in Huntsville, Ont., at the end of June, and followed immediately by the larger Group of 20 summit in Toronto.

While Canada has been widely pilloried for its lack of plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Ottawa wants the two summits to push the world closer to a binding international treaty on emissions reduction, based on the agreement-in-principle reached in Copenhagen last month.

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"We want to see a long-term agreement on climate change," said the Canadian official, speaking on background. He stressed that final decisions will need to be made through the United Nations.

The summits, he said, "can play a supportive role."

For the G8 summit, Harper plans to make child and maternal health a central theme, several sources said, although it was unclear whether Harper was ready to focus on that topic in his Davos speech.

Ottawa wants to foster collaboration among the richest countries to improve hospitals and health care for mothers and newborns in poor countries.

The federal government also wants to set an example by increasing its own spending on maternal and child health in developing countries – although money has not yet been allocated for this effort.

Stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and other security concerns will also be on the G8 discussion list.

For the G20, Harper will use his Davos speech to signal that the Toronto summit in June will focus on entrenching the global economic recovery.

Specifically, Harper is expected to stress that the rebound is fragile, and that the world won't really feel like recovery has taken hold until employment rises.

He is expected to signal that he wants all G20 countries to demonstrate that they are living up to their unprecedented commitments to stimulate their economies.

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